Gamification & Resident Engagement.
GAME ON!
In this day and age, our mobile devices are part of our very being. Always on us, always around us, and always being used to enhance our everyday experiences.
Need to catch a bus? There’s an app.
Need to listen to music? There’s an app.
Need to work out more? There’s an app.
Ultimately apps, while they’re the epitome of digital enhancement, are now an integral part of the human experience.
Which begs the question…. Why are Apps so popular?
Apps offer an extension of engagement to otherwise standard experiences. They allow your customer base to engage with content, messaging, and interact with your brand in a context that works for them. It can be done 24/7, from anywhere in the world, and curates a seamless brand experience off and online. We’re in the information age after all, and apps add another dimension to communications, whatever your purpose. And it’s definitely no different for the real estate industry.
So, where does the term GAMIFICATION come into it?
Gamification’s very definition is:
“the application of typical elements of game playing (e.g. point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) to other areas of activity, typically as an online marketing technique to encourage engagement with a product or service.”
Ultimately, apps are in a busy landscape – it’s competitive and because of the plethora of app noise in the world (say that statement 3 times!), a lot of the interactions with them can feel repetitive and unnecessary. Then comes gamification… a way to appeal to human nature, to curiosity, and engage audiences with an app and allow you to monitor, measure and then make data-driven decisions for your products, business or brand.
This can be through lotto-style challenges, by points based scoring, or by encouraging healthy competition by showcasing real-time insights to residents across an assets. It maximises engagement, it triggers performance, and it encourages residents to be part of a journey that without such tactics, might seem too hard or ‘not their problem’. And that’s exactly where Utopi have tapped into the app market…
Next stop, the Utopi Resident App.
At Utopi, we are no stranger to apps from the real estate world. Resident Apps are not a new innovation, nor is the desire to engage residents, but we saw the opportunity to go one step further with gamification than anyone else on the market.
Gamification to us is a science. It’s about behavioural science, about changing behaviours and about finding new ways to encourage communities to all be part of the movement – the sustainable movement. We use data and insights to validate our approach all day every day, but without the engagement and actions of residents, positive change can only go so far. So, what if we gamified behavioural science via an app, and used a key part of human nature to drive change – incentivisation? And that’s exactly what we’ve done.
The Utopi Resident App (coming soon…) will be a new app for the PBSA sector. It will introduce challenges for residents and site teams, and will reward performance in these challenges. It’s an app built for ease of use, and for maximum impact. But we’ll break down further the problems we’re solving:
1. Operational Efficiency:
Operators have a lot on their plates. They have residents to manage, wellbeing to stay on top of, as well as NOI, budgets and the rising cost of utilities. Our app will allow for a very hands-off management approach to resident engagement, and will mean challenges can be curated based on site needs.
For example, perhaps an asset has a high average temperature and reducing that by 5°C would save on energy consumption and associated utility bills. Set a challenge in the resident app to drive a reduction over a 30 day period and choose how to reward the residents. It’s that simple. Empower the residents through the app, encourage community engagement, and together make a real impact.
2. Behavioural Change:
We always say at Utopi, data is just the beginning. Then it’s all about turning that data into actionable insights and changing behaviours, otherwise long-term impacts will be minimal. So, what better way to encourage behavioural change than to incentivise residents via the app with our custom challenges – it could be with vouchers, with on-site parties, whatever you want – but encourage your community of residents to turn their heating off when they aren’t in, or reduce their daily heating, and all with gamification tactics.
Gamifying features like competitions, and comparing performance with other residents or room types can encourage competitive reactions, and drive the real change you need to reduce utility costs and carbon emissions. For example, it could be a ‘Switch off for Santa’ campaign in the month of December to reward residents who keep their room temperature below a target temperature of 22°C for 30 days. They have gamified energy monitoring, and you get the benefits of reduced energy bills. Win win!
3. Cost Savings:
As mentioned above, the real impact of behavioural change and reducing the energy waste of your assets is of course environmental – but a key benefit is the cost savings associated with the increase in NOI. If residents use less, you pay less, and that’s where the app comes in. Putting real-time data and insights in the hands of residents, empowers them to be climate aware and do their part. And if they’re being rewarded for behaviour then it’s a great way to engage them on a platform that works for them, and in a way that appeals to them.
Most students in a PBSA asset have left home for the first time. It can be an overwhelming change, and rather than adding more stress to their lives, an app is a light touch approach to making really significant change. For example, we have PBSA clients making a 10x ROI based purely on the reduction they’re seeing from utility bills.
So, we know what you’re thinking… where is this Resident App? Great question, follow us on socials over the month of February for more information, because this exciting product is coming soon – and you could be among the first to see it in action…